1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf instruction, and more particularly to a physical alignment tool for instructing a user to properly swing a golf club utilizing a motion training schematic.
2. Description of the Related Art
The game of golf is one of the most difficult sports to master. In order to become proficient, players must learn to swing a golf club while maintaining proper body positioning, hand placement, club alignment and more. In this regard, golfers ranging from novice to professional often turn to professional instructors or commercially available products in order to analyze and correct swing mechanics.
In many sports players have identification marks such as hash marks, side lines, base lines, arcs, free-throw lines, batters boxes, etc., which allow players of those sports to identify their position. However, in the game of golf, such identification marks are not allowed during actual game play. As a result, it is imperative to train and develop muscle memory utilizing correct sight lines in order to learn and improve proper golf swing mechanics.
One particularly innovate method of instruction is described in co-pending United States Patent Publication No. 2012-0040137, to Anderson, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The '137 document relates to golf instruction wherein the golfer is positioned within a virtual schematic having multiple sight lines for positioning and maintaining the golfers' body in a preferred position before, during and after a golf swing.
FIG. 1 illustrates the golf schematic 10 in accordance with the '137 document which can be used to maintain proper positioning during all aspects of a golf swing such as the Setup, Takeaway, Upswing, Position at the top, Downswing, Impact, Follow through, and Finish. As shown, the schematic 10 includes two vertical lines identified as a target line 11 and a posture line 12, two diagonal lines identified as a swing plane 13 and a body plane 14 and a circular line identified as a posture circle 15. The target line 11 represents the projected path a golf ball will travel when struck by the golfer. The posture line 12 represents the preferred core body positioning of the golfer. The swing plane 13 represents the lower boundary of the swing movement of the golfer. The body plane 14 represents both the upper boundary of the swing movement of the golfer and the preferred upper body position of the golfer. Finally, the posture circle represents the preferred position of the head of the golfer. As shown, each element of the schematic 10 is positioned at a specific location and angle with respect to the other elements. As such, the bottom end of the target line 11 is connected to the bottom end of the swing plane 13 at a 45° angle. The posture line 12 is positioned parallel to the target line 11 and is intersected at the mid point by the swing plane 13 at a 45° angle. The body plane is positioned parallel to the swing plane 13 and is connected to the top of the posture line at a 45° angle. Finally, the posture circle 14 is positioned at the top of the posture line 12 nearest to the target line 11. This position and the identified angles act to ensure that a student golfer is maintaining proper body positioning at all times both before, during and after the golf swing.
The '137 document utilizes a video and/or camera system to superimpose the schematic onto a rendering of the golfer, and to record the golfers swing which can be immediately viewed by an instructor, and subsequently reviewed by the golfer after completing their golf swing.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to introduce a golf swing instruction tool having a plurality of indication markers that correspond to the above mentioned golf schematic which can be utilized directly by the golfer during all aspects of a golf swing.